


Dino Dash

by LapisLazooti



Series: Happy Steve Bingo 2018 [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Artist Steve Rogers, Chronic Pain, First Meetings, Fluff, Happy Steve Bingo, M/M, Non-Serum Steve Rogers/Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes | Shrinkyclinks, One Shot, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Available, Podfic Length: 10-20 Minutes, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, War Veteran Bucky Barnes, car talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 15:51:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16043642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LapisLazooti/pseuds/LapisLazooti
Summary: Okay, so, getting into a car with a stranger is always a stupid idea. But this guy was nice and helped him out, and the coffee shop was only a couple of blocks away by now. He decides it's too much to walk that much further right now, and he doesn't want to call a taxi just to take him to the coffee shop. He can save that for getting home.It's a stupid idea, but Steven Grant Rogers is a certified dumbass after all.Fill for 'Hitchhiking'.





	Dino Dash

**Author's Note:**

> This strayed away a little from the prompt and what I intended, but here we are. Hoping this bingo will help push me out of a bit of a writing block i've been in :^0

It would take a dumbass to think you could walk a couple of miles with a backpack full of art supplies pressing down into your already pained back on a day where you thought you could go without any pain meds.

Good thing Steven Grant Rogers was a certified dumbass. 

When he'd left his little apartment this morning he was feeling good. No flare-ups, very minimal pain today. The day was looking good, sun shining and reflecting off building windows, dew stuck to the leaves of the small trees planted along the sidewalk. The birds chirped their usual songs and it invigorated Steve. Led him to adventure to his favorite coffee shop outside of the city; by foot this time, rather than by an Uber or a Taxi today. He was going to get some fresh air even if he paid for it later. For now, it'd help him feel better, help get him out of the rut he'd been in this past week of not being able to get out of bed.

And he was okay, for the first mile or so. His legs were growing weak and his head hurt. And dear god, not to mention the harsh ache in his spine. And then he fucking tripped. On a stupid, minuscule crack in the sidewalk beneath his feet. He pressed his palms to the concrete in his best attempt to pull himself off, a choked gasp escaping him as a spike of pain his hit back. Ohh, this was bad. Peggy was still in London visiting family, Sam was working, so he couldn't call either of them even if he could reach his phone. He wasn't confident if he could. If it was, an ambulance would be an option. But an embarrassing one. ...And expensive, and unnecessary. He wasn't even hurt, only stuck.

That's when he saw a sliver of bright red in his peripherals. He turned his head to examine it, seeing a real fancy Triumph TR6 parked at the curb near him. A man got out of the driver's side and started walking towards him. The first things his mind noted was his brown hair all tied up into a messy bun, and that his left sleeve hung empty, unfilled by a limb that would normally be there. His eyes were gorgeous too, once he got close enough for Steve to really see them. Slate blue and downturned - looked like a sad puppy with the almost panicked look on his face. Had he hit his head? Was he hallucinating? Was this an angel?

"Hey, kid, you okay? That fall didn't look great." He spoke. The mystery man crouched down next to him and he could feel his eyes looking over him for any injuries. He's wearing dog tags. A black t-shirt with some sort of science pun Steve doesn't quite understand and worn out jeans covered in what he can easily identify as paint. A painter, maybe? 

"Yea- Yeah, I'm alright. Just can't... Ah, can't get up." It was a little embarrassing to admit. Anyone else would have been able to get up just fine. Just not Steve. He felt like a weak turtle stuck on it's back. 

"Got it. I can help with that- Can I touch you?" As soon as Steve nodded, the man hooked his arm beneath him and hoisted him up like a goddamn ragdoll. He was real strong, this guy. Even if Steve was ninety-five pounds soaking wet. That was neither here nor there. "There you go. All good?" He asked. 

Steve had to look up to talk to him to make eye contact, he towered above him so much. He appreciated that this guy kept his arm around his waist to keep him steady for now. His legs still shook, though whether it was from fatigue or the shock of the fall he couldn't be sure. "Yeah, thank you. Steve."

"James. Friends call me Bucky, though, so you can too." Bucky grinned this dorky smile and let go of the smaller man once he could be completely sure he was steady on his feet. His gaze falls to Steve's slender wrists, more specifically to the red bracelet there. Its rubber, has black imprints reading some of his ailments that would affect what kind of help he would need, in case he gets injured or needs some sort of medical attention. He learned the hard way that he needed some sort of identification like that, after a fainting spell where he'd fallen and hit his head. 

Severe Asthma, Scoliosis, Chronic Pain & Fatigue, Hard of Hearing.

Part of him hated having all of those things listed on his wrist. Another part of him didn't give too much of a shit, no one really paid much mind to it anyway. But Bucky did, squinting at his wrist for a moment in order to read the text. He didn't scowl or show any sign of pity when his eyes traveled back up to meet his own. "You need a ride anywhere? I'm just out on a joyride, it ain't any inconvenience. Don't want you falling again and gettin' hurt."

Okay, so, getting into a car with a stranger is always a stupid idea. But this guy was nice and helped him out, and the coffee shop was only a couple of blocks away by now. He decides it's too much to walk that much further right now, and he doesn't want to call a taxi just to take him to the coffee shop. He can save that for getting home. 

It's a stupid idea, but Steven Grant Rogers is a certified dumbass after all. 

"That'd be... Really great, actually. I'm going down to a little coffee shop just a couple of blocks away - called The Wing Man-"

"The Wing Man!" Bucky parroted with a laugh. His grin only grew wider, deep-set eyes damn near sparkling when he heard the name of the shop. "I was in the same platoon as the owner! I know that place real well, I can get you there no problem." 

It was Steve's turn to light up like a Christmas tree. It was really cool, how this random stranger happened to know him. It felt like fate. Made him feel a little less weird about catching a ride with him, too. Like he was a little less of a stranger than before. "You know Sam? He's my best friend." 

"Small world, huh?" Bucky started back to his car, nodding towards it to gesture Steve to come along with him. "How'd you meet him?"

"Doctors office, weirdly enough. One of those, 'what are you in for?' situations. He hurt his ankle on a run and I was doing a check up on some new meds, we got talking and told me I should come by the shop sometime. Now I'm a regular."

"Me too - Surprised I've never run into you before. God knows I love to abuse that veteran discount." Now that that grin was plastered on his face, it showed no sign of leaving. And it was really nice, Bucky had a pretty smile. He goes to open the passenger seat for him and Steve follows, taking a glance at the bumper stickers.

He has quite a few stickers and magnets scattered on the bumper. The one that catches his eye first is one with a rainbow background and the text 'I fought for your freedom, fight for mine' on it, and Steve puts it together pretty quickly. This guy is cute so it's good to know that he's probably not straight, even if he is way out of his league. There's a couple with logos and names of a few bands he's heard of, a few he hasn't but he can assume they're a band in the first place. Another says 'If you're going to ride my ass, at least pull my hair'. He snorts at that. "Nice bumper stickers," Steve laughs a bit and gives a nod as a silent thank you as he slides into the passenger seat and Bucky saunters around the car again to get into the driver's side. "Gorgeous car, too. What year is she?"

"Good ol' '74, classic hardtop. You a car guy?"

"I guess you could say that." The inside of Bucky's car had a lot of personality, too. A few keychains hung above the dash and sticky notes speckled around the radio with little cartoon dinosaurs doodled on them. "More into drawing them than driving them, though. Especially these older models, I love the shapes in them." Steve ran his fingertips along the polished wooden accent beneath the window. He appreciated the aesthetic of old cars like this. They were always so sleek, more so than newer models in his opinion.

Bucky's hand that rested on the keys stopped before he could turn the ignition. "Wait a second." His brows knit together and his lips pulled down in a faint and concentrated frown. "You draw. Steve. S. G. Rogers? Did you do the drawings in the coffee shop?"

Steve tensed a bit, hearing that. There was a reason he only gave his initials and his last name. And that reason was that he was far too shy about his art for someone who wanted to make a career out of it. When Sam had asked him to do a few graphite pieces of various local birds to be hung along the blank walls of the cafe he had wished to remain anonymous. Sam was having none of it, so they came to a compromise. "Ah, yeah. Those are- Those are mine," He stuttered out. "Couple'a years old, though. I did those not long after I met Sam." And Steve was struggling to pay his rent, and that angel of a man offered to commission him for a few pieces. He really owed a lot to him.

"Well, they're really good." Bucky finally started the car and the radio kicked on to a Beck song Steve couldn't remember the name of as they began driving towards the little coffee shop. "And I mean that. They aren't just boring realism, there's something about it that makes them seem so lively. Like art, not a picture. Can't put my finger on it, though."

He stared out the window in a sorry attempt to hide any physical tell-tales of his embarrassment. He just wanted to look anywhere but Bucky right now, and the streets of Brooklyn were a good place for his eyes to be focused on. The area was so familiar that it was hard for him to consider this hitchhiking like he may have when Bucky first offered him a ride. There was something else though, too. Hitchhiking was always on back country roads in the back of pick-up trucks driven by shady rednecks, or at gas station rest stops. But right now... It felt like they were friends, like they hadn't just met each other ten minutes ago. Maybe they'd known each other in a past life, or maybe Steve was just infatuated 'cause a beautiful man was being kind to him. It was easy to talk to him and it was actually interesting, not just small talk. He wanted to learn more about him and the fact that they had such a strong mutual friend made the chances of being able to a lot more likely.

Steve thinks he likes that possibility.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it. those drawings were the first ones that really saw the light of day, so I'm glad they're nice to look at, at least. Are you an artist too?" He asked, nodding to the little cartoon dinosaurs scribbled on the sticky notes. They weren't exactly top-notch quality, but neither were Steve's doodles, to be honest.

"Nah, unless bein' a house painter counts. I just do the occasional dumb dinosaur when I'm bored. They're fun to draw, especially when you put little speech bubbles next to them," He looked towards one of the pink notes with an opened-mouthed stegosaurus with the word 'ass' written beside it within a bubble. Steve burst out laughing, a sudden and loud cackle that was frankly kind of embarrassing.

"I love it."

"Wanna make an addition to the Dino Dash? Sticky notes and pens are in the glove box."

Oh, Steve was not about to turn that offer down. This as his chance to walk out on a limb, to change the day that had gone from good to not so great back to excellent again. There was nothing to lose by doing this, he reminded himself. Only things to gain. He clicked open the glove compartment and smiled a the array of different packs of sticky notes the other man kept in here. Ones shaped like stars or hearts, circles and squares in all colors of the rainbow. That was pretty cute, actually. Everything about this felt like a shitty teen romance movie, with Bucky in the role of his Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Steve went the pink heart route, feeling bold. He was convinced they'd met for a reason and he may as well stay confident in that notion. 

He draws a messy pteranodon and gives it a little hearing aid like his (despite that it is anatomically incorrect because the dinosaur doesn't have ears, he doesn't quite care.) and writes 'Wanna grab a coffee?' next to it. Using a dinosaur to ask a guy he just met out on a date wasn't something he ever thought he'd do, but he hoped it'd work anyway. He peeled it off of the pad with the rest of the heart-shaped notes and pressed the paper to the dash right as the car stopped, parked along the street next to the shop. Of course, Bucky looks over to see the new addition and Steve watches with a quickly beating heart as his lips curl into that dorky, lopsided smile. 

"I'd love to."

\--

"Guess I couldn't keep the two gay-ass forces of nature from meetin' forever, huh?" Sam gave an exasperated sigh as soon as he saw the two walk in together, with Steve all rosy-cheeked and Bucky with that goofy grin. And oh man, were they going to give him hell for not introducing them before.

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/156248295@N03/42985211370/in/dateposted/)


End file.
